Chelsea boss Antonio Conte makes big claim about season
The Italian, who has endured question marks over his future for weeks now, doesn’t know if he will still have a job at Chelsea come the end of the season. But he remains hell bent on building a side for a bright future.

Whether he succeeds with that mission does, however, depend on how deeply affected owner Roman Abramovich becomes in the political war of words now raging between his homeland and his adopted country here.

And Conte emphasised the importance of the Russian – and his money – in his and Chelsea’s future.

“If you want to improve, to become strong, to accelerate this progress, you have to buy great players,” he said. “I can give my opinion to the club, then the club has to decide how much money to invest, the best way to improve the team. I can give my opinion, but I have to stay in my place.”

In the meantime, beating Leicester and going on to win the FA Cup remains a top priority, but Conte claims “it’s not important” in the full scheme of things.

“We have to try to win this competition, but you have to understand what our level is now. We are working very hard, like last season, and we are doing a fantastic job as well.

“If you are able to win something, it’s good. But you have to understand what our level is at this moment.

“Last season every player performed 120 per cent, maybe 130 per cent. Then, you remember, we lost a lot of players, old players, who had created a base for Chelsea for a long time.